Disney is planning to fully integrate Hulu with Disney Plus, creating a “unified” app experience that will launch next year, the company announced as part of its earnings results on Wednesday. The new app will put all of Hulu’s content into Disney Plus, calling the future of Hulu’s standalone app into question.
With Disney’s deal to purchase all of Hulu from Comcast now complete, the entertainment giant has more freedom to make changes to the service. Disney added a Hulu tile to its Disney Plus app last year, but this only serves as a gateway to select content, even for Hulu subscribers. Now that’s set to change, as Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed during an earnings call on Wednesday that the unified app will combine “all of the program assets” of both services.
But Iger didn’t say what will become of Hulu as a standalone app as a result of the integration. When asked about the app’s future during the call, Iger dodged the question. “I think the way to look at the combination is to start with the consumer,” Iger said. “You’re going to end up with a far better consumer experience when those apps are combined.”
The new app will also feature a more “personalized” homepage, according to Iger. In addition to this announcement, Disney revealed that it’s launching its standalone ESPN streaming service on August 21st for $29.99, which subscribers will be able to bundle with Disney Plus and Hulu. Disney has spent years pushing its bundled plans, and a fully integrated Hulu app could pull even more people into subscribing to more than one of its services.
A Disney spokesperson told Variety that users will still be able to purchase an individual subscription to Hulu and Disney Plus following the launch of a unified app. It still remains unclear whether subscribers will be able to access Hulu + Live TV within the standalone Hulu app, or if that will be absorbed into Disney Plus, too. The Verge reached out to Disney with a request for more information but didn’t immediately hear back.
